Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-07-14

| may be some awful hole Underneath" said L.
Much more likely to be snos!ler room,"
said Sir Henry, as he slowly descended,
counting the steps as he went
When he got to fifteen" he stopped.
Here's the bottom" he said. THANK
goodness! i think it's passage. Come on
dowIi."
Good descended next, and l followed last,
Rnd on reaching the bottom lit one OF the
TWO remaing matches By its light we
rold just sec that we were standing iii a
narrow tunnel, Which ran right and lett at
right angles to the staircase we had descend
ed. Before we could make Out any more.
tie match burned my fingers and went out.
Then arose the delicate question OF whicA
way to turn. Or course il was Impossible
to know what the tunnel was OF where
it ran to- ana yet to turn one way N GIT
lead us to safety, AMI the other to destsuc-
ton. We were utterly pcrpieXed, till Sud-
denly it struck Good that wnen | had lit the
match the draught Of the passage blew tie
Game to tie lett
Let us 90 against the draught," he said,
lair draws inward, not outward
| We took this suggestion, and feeling alone
the wall with the hand, whilst try ing ting
ground before US at every step, we departed
from that accurSed treasure chamber OH 0iir
terrible quest. III ever it should Be entered
again by living man, which do not thinh II
Will De, he Will md Il token OF our presence
in the open chests Of jewels, the empty
lamp, and tie white bones 0f poor fouiati.
Wien we had CROPPED our way for about {,
quarter of an hour along the passage il
stt,.G MY took a sharp turn OF else WIS
b!Sected b. another, which we followed, only
ii course of time to be led into a third. And
so it went on Tor some hours. We seemed
| 10 be i'll a stone labyrinth which led no.
| where. What all these passages are, OF
| course | cannot say, tut we thought that
| they must be the ancient workings OF a
| mine, OF which the various SHAFTS travelled
| nithcr ami thither us the ore led them. This
| is til. Gniy way Ill which we could account
| tor SUCH Il multitude OF passages.
| Al Iength we halted, thoroughly worn out
! Witia fatigue ana with that hope deferred
| which makctn the heart SICK, and ate up our
| p ,or remaining piece OF biitong, and drank
| our IsS6 sup OF water, for CUT thrOatS Were
| like lnne-hItlS. l6 SeemeI to us tnas we had
| escaped death i'll the darkness OF the chain
| Der only To meet him Ill the darkness of tile
| tunnels.
As we stool, once more utterly depressed
| l thought / caught q sound TO which called
| the attention OF the Others. 1t WAS very
| faint ana far OFT, but 1t was sound, IL FAINT,
| murmurlng sound for tie others heard 1t
| too, and 10 words can describe the blessed
ness Of il alter all those hours OF utter, aW-
| ful stiffness.
by Heaven. it's running water" said
! GOUu. Come on
| Off we starte, again in the direction from
| Which tie ftiIit luurinur seemed to come
glOpln5 Ouf WAY DIS before along the rocky
| Waits. As we Went lS got more and more
;tttID.e, iili at lit,J ii 5, eined quite loud Ill
TIE quiei. Gu, !e. Oh; how we could dis
| tttctiy make out tlc unnIlStahaUle swift OF
| rtsuliIg water. Aid yet now could there be
ru.liiing water III the bowels or the earth?
| Now We Nete QdItG near to H, and Good
| who WIS .c.lunS, oWure that lie could smell
| IL
go goltiy, Good" said Sir Henry, we
must be close" Splash! and cry from
Good.
| He had ftIlen In.
''Gord! Good! where are your we shout
ell, in terrified! distress. 70 cur ;:itcnSe re-
lief an answer came back in a chol1y voice.
All right; I've got hold Of a rock. Strike
a light TO show ms where you are
Hastily lit the last remaining match. Its
| faint CLEAN discovered to us dark mass OF
| water running at our feet. How wide it was
we could not see, but there some way out,
| was the dark form of our companion hang
| ing on to projecting rock.
| Stand clear to catch me-" sung out
| Good. Il must swim for it,
| Then we heard a splash, and great
| struggle. Another minute and he had grab
bed at and caught Sir Henry's outstretched
| hand, and we pulled him up high and dry
| into the tunnel.
My wordr' he said, between his gasps,
''that was touch and go If hadn't caught
that rock. and known how to SWIM | should
| nave D66n GONE. LII runs like u nlIIrdCe,
| and | could feel no bottom"
It was clear that this would not do; so
| after Good had rested a little, and we had
drank our fill from the water of the subter-
| ranean river, which was sweet and fresh,
| and washed our faces which sadly needed
banks Of this African Styx, and began to re-
| trace our steps along the tunnel, Good drip
ping unpleasantly in front of us. At length
we came to another tunnel leading to our
| right.
1--WE may us we'll take it." said Sir Hen
| ry, YEARLY, 'all roads are alike here; we
can only go on until we drop"
Slowly, for a long, long While, we Stumb-
| led utterly weary, along this new tunnel,
| Sir Henry leading now.
| Suddenly he stopped, and we bumped up
against him.
ing or is that lIght"'
We stared with all our eyes. and there,
yes, there, far ahead OF us, was Il faint
| gllmmerlng spot no larger than a cottage
/ windOw-pane. 1t was so faint that [ doubt
| it any eyes, except those which, like ours,
had for days seen nothing but blackness,
| could have perceived it at all.
With a sort of a gasp of hope, we pushed
| on IN live minutes there was no longer any
| doubt; it WIS patch of faint light. A min
ute more ana a breath of real, live air was
| the tunnel narrowed. Sir Henry went on
] his knees. Smaller yet it grew, till it was
| only the sZe of a large foX'S eartl-it was
earth now, mind you; the rock had ceased.
| A squeeze, struggle, and Sir Henry was
| out. an SO was Good, and SO was |, and
| there above us were the blessed stars, and in
| our n0striiS was the sweet air; then sudden
| ly something gave, and we We're all rolling
| over and over through grass and bushes, and
soft wet SOIL
caught at something and stopped. Sit
| ting up1 hallOed Justify. An answering
shout came from just below, when Sir Hem
rvs wild career had been stopped by some
| level ground. scrambled to him, and found
| him onhurt though breathlesS. Then we
| looked for Good. A little way off we found
| him, too, damned il forked root He was
a good deal knocked about, but soon come
| TO.
We sat down together there on the grass,
] and the revulsion of feeling was so great
| that L really think we cried for joy. We had
escan ned from that awful dungeon: that -.
| So near TO becoming our grave. o1rrIy oocro
merciful power must have guided our foot
| steps TO the jackal hole at the termination OF
the tunnel (fOr that is what it must have
| been). And see, there on the mountains,
! the dawn we had never thought to look up
| on again was bluShing rosy red.
Presently the gray light stole down the
slopes and we saw that we were at the bot
| tom, or. rather nearly at the bottom, ri the
| vast pit in front of the entrance to the cave
| Now we could make out the dim forms OF